U.S. patent number 4,989,234 [Application Number 07/336,657] was granted by the patent office on 1991-01-29 for systems for capturing telephonic mass responses.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Evanston Enterprises, Inc.. Invention is credited to Gilbert W. Bell, Harvey E. Schakowsky.
United States Patent |
4,989,234 |
Schakowsky , et al. |
January 29, 1991 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Systems for capturing telephonic mass responses
Abstract
Recipients of a promotion broadcast over an essentially one-way
medium are prompted to respond thereto through their telephone sets
having different subscriber telephone numbers, and the task of
handling the resulting mass response is divided into a call
receiving phase and a subsequent response completing phase. Such
call receiving phase is shortened relative to the response
completing phase by automatically receiving calls of recipients
using their telephone sets to respond to the broadcast promotion,
electronically capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the
telephone sets through which these calls are made, and
automatically confirming to substantially all callers while on line
during these calls that their calls have been received. The
response completing phase is subsequently carried out by using the
electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to call on
multitudes of the telephone sets at a time until substantially all
of the calls have been returned, electronically prompting all
persons who answer the calls on these multitudes of telephone sets
to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through
their telephone sets while on line, and automatically receiving the
completed responses while on line with these persons through their
telephone sets.
Inventors: |
Schakowsky; Harvey E. (Los
Angeles, CA), Bell; Gilbert W. (Lilburn, GA) |
Assignee: |
Evanston Enterprises, Inc.
(Studio City, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
23317078 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/336,657 |
Filed: |
April 11, 1989 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
379/92.03;
379/111; 379/112.01; 379/112.09; 379/142.01; 379/246; 379/84;
725/105; 725/127; 725/13 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M
3/42 (20130101); H04M 3/465 (20130101); H04M
3/493 (20130101); H04M 3/5158 (20130101); H04H
60/31 (20130101); H04M 3/42195 (20130101); H04M
3/48 (20130101); H04M 3/487 (20130101); H04M
2203/1041 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
3/51 (20060101); H04M 3/50 (20060101); H04M
3/487 (20060101); H04M 3/493 (20060101); H04M
3/46 (20060101); H04M 3/42 (20060101); H04H
9/00 (20060101); H04M 3/48 (20060101); H04M
001/57 (); H04M 003/50 () |
Field of
Search: |
;379/92,96,97,88,89,113,201,219,84,77,104,105,245,246,142 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
ATI Network, Paul Desmond, "Telemarketing service aids advertising
campaigns", Network World, 7/17/89, Intl. Pub No.: WO 88/05239,
Jul. 14, 1988..
|
Primary Examiner: Ng; Jin F.
Assistant Examiner: Woo; Stella L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Weiss; David Benoit; Luc P.
Claims
I/We claim:
1. A method of enhancing response to a broadcast promotion,
comprising in combination the steps of:
broadcasting said promotion over an essentially one-way mass
medium;
prompting recipients of that broadcast promotion to respond thereto
through their telephone sets having different subscriber telephone
numbers;
automatically receiving calls of recipients using their telephone
sets to respond to said broadcast promotion, electronically
capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets
through which said calls are made, and automatically confirming to
substantially all callers while on line during said calls that
their calls have been received;
subsequently using the electronically captured subscriber telephone
numbers to call on multitudes of the telephone sets at a time until
substantially all of said calls have been returned;
electronically prompting all persons who answer the calls on said
multitudes of telephone sets to complete their responses to the
broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line;
and
automatically receiving the completed responses while on line with
said persons through their telephone sets.
2. A method as in claim 1, wherein:
any utterance attempted to be conveyed by a recipient through any
telephone set when responding to said broadcast promotion is
ignored in all but a minority of calls where electronic capturing
of subscribers' telephone numbers is unavailable in a particular
telephone exchange.
3. A method as in claim 1, wherein:
said telephone sets have dialing facilities; and
any receipt of information conveyed by recipients through their
telephone sets when responding to said broadcast promotion is
confined to said capturing of subscriber telephone numbers where a
telephone system is so equipped, and to information conveyed
through said dialing facilitites.
4. A method as in claim 1, wherein:
said telephone sets have keypad-type dialing facilities; and
any receipt of information conveyed by recipients through their
telephone sets having keypad-type dialing facilities when
responding to said broadcast promotion is confined to said
capturing of subscriber telephone numbers where a telephone system
is so equipped, and to information conveyed through said
keypad-type dialing facilities.
5. A method as in claim 1, wherein:
said telephone sets have keypad-type dialing facilities; and
said persons who answer the calls on telephone sets having
keypad-type dialing facilitites are prompted to complete their
responses to the broadcast promotion through said keypad-type
dialing facilities.
6. A method as in claim 1, including the step of:
automatically disconnecting said callers' telephone sets after
confirming that their calls have been received.
7. A method as in claim 1, including the step of:
delaying initiation of the calling on said multitudes of the
telephone sets by a predetermined length of time after the
broadcast promotion.
8. A method as in claim 1, including the steps of:
broadcasting a stimulus for prompting said recipients of the
broadcast promotion to respond through their telephone sets;
and
initiating the calling on said multitudes of the telephone sets
after expiration of a predetermined length of time after said
stimulus.
9. A method as in claim 1, including the steps of:
broadcasting a stimulus for prompting said recipients of the
broadcast promotion to respond through their telephone sets;
assessing a length of time during which substantially all of said
recipients responding to said stimulus will have made their
responses through their telephone sets; and
initiating the calling on said multitudes of the telephone sets
after expiration of said length of time after said stimulus.
10. A method of enhancing response to a promotion broadcast over an
essentially one-way mass medium, wherein recipients of that
broadcast promotion are prompted to respond thereto through their
telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers,
comprising in combination the steps of:
dividing said method into a call receiving phase and a response
completing phase carried out at least minutes after termination of
said call receiving phase;
shortening said call receiving phase relative to said response
completing phase by automatically receiving calls of recipients
using their telephone sets to respond to said broadcast promotion,
electronically capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the
telephone sets through which said calls are made, and automatically
confirming to substantially all callers while on line during said
calls that their calls have been received; and
subsequently carrying out the response completing phase by:
using the electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to
return said calls;
prompting all persons who answer the calls on telephone sets to
complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through their
telephone sets while on line; and
receiving the completed responses while on line with said persons
through their telephone sets.
11. A method as in claim 10, including the step of:
positively limiting said call receiving phase as to maximum time
duration by automatically disconnecting said callers' telephone
sets after confirming that their calls have been received.
12. A method as in claim 10, wherein:
any utterance attempted to be conveyed by a recipient through any
telephone set when responding to said broadcast promotion is
ignored in all but a minority of calls where electronic capturing
of subscribers' telephone numbers is unavailable in a particular
telephone exchange.
13. A method as in claim 10, wherein:
any receipt of information conveyed by recipients through their
telephone sets when responding to said broadcast promotion is
confined during said call receiving phase to said capturing of
subscriber telephone numbers where a telephone system is so
equipped.
14. A method as in claim 10, wherein:
said telephone sets have keypad-type dialing facilities; and
any receipt of information conveyed by recipients through their
telephone sets having keypad-type dialing facilities when
responding to said broadcast promotion is confined to said
capturing of subscriber telephone numbers where a telephone system
is so equipped and to information conveyed through said keypad-type
dialing facilities.
15. A method as in claim 10, wherein:
said telephone sets have keypad-type dialing facilities; and
said persons who answer the calls on telephone sets having
keypad-type dialing facilities are prompted during said response
completing phase to complete their responses to the broadcast
promotion through said keypad-type dialing facilitites.
16. A method as in claim 10, including the step of:
calling on multitudes of telephone sets at a time by using said
electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers until said
return calls have been made.
17. A method as in claim 16, including the steps of:
broadcasting a stimulus for prompting said recipients of the
broadcast promotion to respond through their telephone sets;
assessing a length of time during which substantially all of said
recipients responding to said stimulus will have made their
responses through their telephone sets; and
starting said response completing phase only after expiration of
said length of time after said stimulus.
18. A method as in claim 10, wherein:
in said response completing phase, using the electronically
captured subscriber telephone numbers to return substantially all
of said calls.
19. A method as in claim 10, wherein in said response completing
phase;
using the electronically captured subscriber telephone numbers to
automatically return said calls;
electronically prompting all persons who answer the calls to
complete their responses to the broadcast promotion through their
telephone sets while on line; and
automatically receiving the completed responses while on line with
said persons through their telephone sets.
20. A method as in claim 10, including the step of:
delaying initiation of said response completing phase by a
predetermined length of time after the broadcast promotion.
21. A method as in claim 10, including the steps of:
broadcasting a stimulus for prompting said recipients of the
broadcast promotion to respond through their telephone sets;
and
starting said response completing phase after expiration of a
predetermined length of time after said stimulus.
22. A method as in claim 10, including the steps of:
broadcasting a stimulus for prompting said recipients of the
broadcast promotion to respond through their telephone sets;
assessing a length of time during which substantially all of said
recipients responding to said stimulus will have made their
responses through their telephone sets; and
starting said response completing phase after expiration of said
length of time after said stimulus.
23. In apparatus for enhancing response to a promotion broadcast
over an essentially one-way mass medium wherein recipients of that
broadcast promotion are prompted to respond thereto through their
telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers, the
improvement comprising in combination:
receiving means for receiving calls of recipients of said broadcast
promotion using their telephone sets to respond to said broadcast
promotion;
capturing means connected to said receiving means for capturing the
subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which
said calls are made;
means connected to said receiving means for confirming to
substantially all callers while on line during said calls that
their calls have been received; and
means for returning said received calls, including in
combination:
means connected to said capturing means for calling with the
captured subscriber telephone numbers on multitudes of the
telephone sets at a time;
means for prompting all persons who answer the calls on said
multitudes of telephone sets to complete their response to the
broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line;
and
means for receiving the completed responses while on line with said
persons through their telephone sets.
24. Apparatus as in claim 23, wherein
said receiving means include means for confining any receipt of
information conveyed by a recipient through any telephone set when
responding to said broadcast promotion to said capturing of
subscriber telephone numbers in all but a minority of calls where
electronic capturing a subscribers' telephone numbers is
technically impossible.
25. Apparatus as in claim 23, wherein:
said telephone sets have dialing facilities; and
said receiving means include means for confining any receipt of
information conveyed by recipients through their telephone sets
when responding to said broadcast promotion to said capturing of
subscriber telephone numbers and to information conveyed through
said dialing facilitites.
26. Apparatus as in claim 23, wherein:
said telephone sets have keypad-type dialing facilities; and
said receiving means include means for confining any receipt of
information conveyed by recipients through their telephone sets
having keypad-type dialing facilities when responding to said
broadcast promotion to said capturing of subscriber telephone
numbers where a telephone system is so equipped, and to information
conveyed through said keypad-type dialing facilities.
27. Apparatus as in claim 23, wherein:
said telephone sets have keypad-type dialing facilities; and
said prompting means include means for prompting all persons who
answer the calls on telephone sets having keypad-type dialing
facilitites to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion
through said keypad-type dialing facilities.
28. Apparatus as in claim 23, wherein:
said receiving means include means for automatically disconnecting
said callers' telephone sets after confirming that their calls have
been received.
29. Apparatus as in claim 23, wherein:
said means for returning said received calls includes means for
delaying initiation of the calling with the captured subscriber
telephone numbers on said multitudes of the telephone sets by a
predetermined length of time after the broadcast promotion.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention relates to interactive communication systems
and, more particularly, to systems for capturing telephonic mass
responses, and to methods and apparatus for enhancing a telephonic
response to promotions broadcast over mass media.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
An ongoing frustration of those who would like to organize help on
a big scale has been that while it is possible to reach millions of
homes via television, it has been almost impossible to capture the
full public response by the many people who would like to help
victims of a major calamity or of an affliction of great public
concern Despite the existence of some interactive television
systems, mass media capable of reaching millions of people
simultaneously essentially are of a one-way nature The existence of
nationwide and transcontinental telephone systems may have created
the illusion that the telephone can easily provide a return path,
in parallel to any one-way mass medium, for all those who want to
respond to a plea for help or to other broadcast material. That
impression may be fortified by the frequent occurrence of
promotional television programs in which viewers are prompted by
the display of a phone number to respond to a broadcast through
their telephone sets. However, those who are using that approach
have come to know that it by no means provides a two-way street,
but only a limited path backwards in response to an immense current
forward
In this respect, researchers in the promotional broadcast field
have come to know that most viewers who want to respond by
telephone will attempt to do so within less than two minutes after
a broadcast stimulus therefor. By way of representative example,
over eighty-five per cent of all such phone calls will be attempted
during the first ninety seconds, followed by ten to fifteen per
cent within the next five minutes. After this period, the call
volume for a given broadcast stimulus will virtually disappear.
Prior-art phone systems have been incapable of accommodating within
a couple of minutes the myriads of phone calls attempted by viewers
in response to a widely broadcast prompt or stimulus.
Add to this the problem that only a minority will attempt to
re-dial the broadcast phone number, when they receive a busy signal
In practice, the percentage of those who will attempt another call
is dependent upon several variables which, as known in commercial
promotion, include the perceived quality of the product or service,
the competitive posture of the product or service from alternate
channels of distribution and manufacturers, and the strength and
duration of memory recall of the offer and the toll-free number
broadcast. By way of representative example, applicable also to the
telethon field, only some forty per cent of all callers will
attempt to redial the broadcast phone number if they receive a busy
signal This percentage is halved each time the busy signal is again
encountered, to disappear asymptotically with the fourth attempt to
reach the busy phone number.
This means that many promotions for civic or charitable purposes
either remained lofty goals without substantial return, or then had
to be so hard hitting and repetitive as to become in effect a
nuisance to many television viewers and radio listeners.
The same applies to the commercial arena, where commercial messages
and advertisements have become so numerous as to annoy on the one
hand and lose their efficacy on the other hand. This has called for
a significant shift away from advertising in favor of promotion
with value-added propositions. Such promotions have gone
nationwide, but the effect has been like that of a giant rectifier:
substantially all the current has flown one way, true to the nature
of television and broadcast radio as a one-way mass medium, with
very little current flowing the other way. As in a commercial
rectifier, some current can flow the other way, and television
viewers and radio listeners, indeed, have been able to use their
telephones in pledging their charitable or other contributions,
placing their orders, or otherwise responding to broadcast programs
or promotions.
However, what is needed here is not a leaky rectifier, but a strong
bi-directional or, nationwide, omni-directional system in which
information generated by a broadcast promotion can flow back from
the viewers and listeners' homes completely and instantaneously,
rather than through prior-art bottlenecks caused by busy operators,
phone systems inadequate to the task, and above all, an eventually
unsuccessful attempt to produce a large-scale response system by
multiplying a telephonic response methodology that for a long time
worked reasonably well with local shops and other small-scale
situations. However, as in other areas of technology, just doing
"more of the same thing" has not solved the problem.
That the capability to do better exists may, for instance, be seen
from the recent article by Gary Slutsker in FORBES MAGAZINE (Apr.
3, 1989, p.p. 145-47) entitled Relationship Marketing, and
describing in part ideas conceived by the subject inventors, and
being herewith incorporated by reference herein.
The capability of public telephone systems to capture callers'
phone numbers is at least as old as electronic dialing. In fact
AT&T has had an automatic number identification system (ANI)
for some time. Moreover, automatic telephone number dialing systems
also have been known for some time. "Pay-per-view" TV systems not
only have captured subscribers' telephone numbers, but have asked
them at the same time by synthesized voice to key-in their choice
through the pushbutton dialing facility now present at the majority
of telephone sets.
Despite such capability and potentials, the reality of
telemarketing has not been encouraging. As reported on Mar. 31,
1989 in the LOS ANGELES TIMES, Part IV, p.p. 2 and 4, the leading
mass merchandiser J. C. Penny announced its decision to "pull the
plug" on Telaction, its interactive home shopping service that was
being tested in the Chicago area. Telaction provided cable
television viewers with an electronic shopping mall. Using a
touch-tone telephone, viewers could choose a category of
merchandise, browse the offerings from a particular store and make
selections An array of prestigious merchants participated in the
service, including Neiman Marcus Group, Marshall Field's, Sears,
catalogue house Spiegel Inc., Dayton Hudson, Galeries Lafayette of
France, and La Rinascente of Italy.
Reported reasons for the adverse decision were an "innovative but
cumbersome" technology with an unsatisfactory rate of return
customers.
Neither of the two interactive systems reported in that LOS ANGELES
TIMES article as remaining after Telaction closes, uses the "Touch
Tone" telephone Rather, a joint venture of Sears Roebuck and IBM,
called "Prodigy," is activated by subscribers on personal
computers.
GTE is also doing limited testing in Boston of an interactive
service called "Main Street." Users access the service through a
television cable using a remote control Unlike Telaction, "Main
Street" does not require a touch-tone phone and does not make
subscribers share a party line.
In a different vein, recent systems that call on telephone
subscribers en masse with various solicitations have been creating
quite a nuisance, and there is a need to replace such unsolicited
calling systems by systems which will not make calls unless the
called party has in some manner indicated that such calls are
authorized.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a general object of this invention to overcome the
disadvantages, problems or shortcomings and to meet the needs
expressed or implicit in the above background statement and in
other parts hereof.
It is a germane object of this invention to provide improved
systems for capturing telephonic mass responses.
It is a related object of this invention to provide improved
systems for capturing telephonic mass responses to promotions
broadcast by such mass media as radio and television.
It is also an object of this invention to provide methods and
apparatus for enhancing the response to broadcast promotions.
It is a related object of this invention to provide improved
systems in which completion of mass responses to broadcast
promotions, such as a taking of an order or a pledge, does not
interfere with the capturing of a telephonic mass response to such
promotion.
It is also an object of this invention to provide overall concepts
which will encourage telephone systems to use their technology and
potential in a novel way and in novel combinations.
It is a further object of this invention to limit telephone mass
calling systems to calls for which called parties have indicated
some advance authorization.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent in the further
course of this disclosure.
From one aspect thereof, the subject invention resides in a method
of enhancing response to a promotion broadcast over an essentially
one-way mass medium, wherein recipients of that broadcast promotion
are prompted to respond thereto through their telephone sets having
different subscriber telephone numbers. The method according to
this aspect of the invention comprises, in combination, the steps
of dividing that method into a call receiving phase and a response
completing phase carried out at least minutes after termination of
that call receiving phase, shortening the call receiving phase
relative to the response completing phase by automatically
receiving calls of recipients using their telephone sets to respond
to the broadcast promotion, electronically capturing the subscriber
telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which these calls
are made, and automatically confirming to substantially all callers
while on line during these calls that their calls have been
received, and subsequently carrying out the response completing
phase by using the electronically captured subscriber telephone
numbers to return the calls, prompting all persons who answer the
calls on telephone sets to complete their responses to the
broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line, and
receiving the completed responses while on line with these persons
through their telephone sets.
From a related aspect thereof, the subject invention resides in a
method of enhancing response to a broadcast promotion, comprising,
in combination, the steps of broadcasting the promotion over an
essentially one-way mass medium, prompting recipients of that
broadcast promotion to respond thereto through their telephone sets
having different subscriber telephone numbers, automatically
receiving calls of recipients using their telephone sets to respond
to that broadcast promotion, electronically capturing the
subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets through which
these calls are made, and automatically confirming to substantially
all callers while on line during these calls that their calls have
been received, subsequently using the electronically captured
subscriber telephone numbers to call on multitudes of the telephone
sets at a time until substantially all of said calls have been
returned, electronically prompting all persons who answer the calls
on such multitudes of telephone sets to complete their responses to
the broadcast promotion through their telephone sets while on line,
and automatically receiving the completed responses while on line
with these persons through their telephone sets.
Also from a related aspect thereof, the subject invention resides
in apparatus for enhancing response to a promotion broadcast over
an essentially one-way mass medium wherein recipients of that
broadcast promotion are prompted to respond thereto through their
telephone sets having different subscriber telephone numbers, and,
more specifically, resides in the improvement comprising, in
combination, receiving means for receiving calls of recipients of
the broadcast promotion using their telephone sets to respond to
that broadcast promotion, capturing means connected to these
receiving means for capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of
the telephone sets through which the calls are made, means
connected to the receiving means for confirming to substantially
all callers while on line during the calls that their calls have
been received, and means for returning said received calls,
including, in combination, means connected to the capturing means
for calling with the captured subscriber telephone numbers on
multitudes of the telephone sets at a time, means for prompting all
persons who answer the calls on the multitudes of telephone sets to
complete their response to the broadcast promotion through their
telephone sets while on line, and means for receiving the completed
responses while on line with these persons through their telephone
sets.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The subject invention and its aspects and objects will become more
readily apparent from the following detailed description of
preferred embodiments thereof, illustrated by way of example in the
accompanying drawing, in which like reference numerals designate
like or equivalent parts, and in which:
The single FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a promotional broadcast and
telephonic mass response capturing and processing system according
to a preferred embodiment of the subject invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 illustrates a method and shows a system 10 for enhancing
response to a broadcast promotion. As indicated at 12, this method
includes broadcasting the promotion over an essentially one-way
mass medium, notably radio or television using broadcast receivers
13. Television sets are symbolically shown for that purpose, but
radio sets are also within the scope of the subject invention.
While broadcast signal receiving antennas 14 are symbolically
shown, the one-way channel 15 over which the broadcast promotion is
transmitted may include cable or wireless systems or a combination
thereof.
Recipients 16 of that broadcast promotion, such as television
viewers or radio listeners, are prompted to respond thereto through
their telephone sets 18 having different subscriber telephone
numbers, as indicated by way of example within the block 20,
symbolizing exchanges of a typical telephone system.
It is the goal of the subject invention to automatically receive
substantially all calls of recipients using their telephone sets to
respond to the broadcast promotion, symbolized in FIG. 1 by a
reference numeral 22 pointing at the television screens. Of course,
we realize that this means hundreds of calls a second in the case
of promotions broadcast over a wide area. No existing system of
human operators or callers' voice recorders could handle that. At
best, all lines would go busy for minutes after the first flurry of
calls, whereby the bulk of the people responding to a broadcast
promotion stimulus would simply be missed. In terms of the above
mentioned representative example, when over eighty-five per cent of
all phone calls are attempted during the first ninety seconds after
the promotional stimulus, it is clear that even a two-minute busy
condition would be devastating to the success of the promotion,
inasmuch as only a minority will attempt to redial the broadcast
telephone number, when they receive a busy signal. That minority
quickly goes down to zero when further busy conditions are
encountered. As apparent from the above mentioned Forbes Magazine
article, the technology to do better than that is here, but the
invention to do better than that was not; for it is one thing for a
telephone company to put in enough equipment to receive
substantially all calls, but quite another thing to prevent the
system from becoming busy in a matter of seconds nevertheless.
The subject invention solves that problem by electronically
capturing the subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets 18
through which the calls are made, and automatically confirming to
substantially all callers 16 while on line during those calls that
their calls have been received. Of course, the subject invention is
a combination of elements which have to cooperate to solve the
problem and to enhance response to a broadcast promotion to a
significant level above and beyond that of the prior art. In its
purest form, that electronic capturing of the callers' telephone
numbers and automatic call confirmation while on line, reduces to a
minimum the useful duration of time during which a flurry of calls
could keep the system busy in the wake of a broadcast promotional
stimulus. This thus yields the lowest possible functional duration
of time during which such a flurry of calls could keep the system
busy in the wake of a broadcast promotional stimulus. Accordingly,
while that is only one element of the combination required
according to the subject invention, it is certainly an important
one that enables the function of the next element more fully
disclosed below.
Reverting for the moment to the first element so far discussed, it
may be noted that one way to prompt viewers 16 to respond to a
broadcast promotion is to display the phone number secured or used
by the promoter or by the operator of the promotion for that
purpose Number signs (#) are shown in the television sets 13 to
indicate such a prompt. Also, FIG. 1 in its block 23 shows a
toll-free telephone number as (800) PRO-DUCT for that purpose. A
similar audible prompt could be broadcast in the case of radio
promotions.
Accordingly, if any viewer 16 dials that toll-free number then the
system will already know at point 23 that such callers 16 are
responding to the broadcast promotion 22. A so-called "900" number
or another non-toll-free number could be used instead.
Most existing systems would start talking at that point of time,
either by having a human operator or a telephone answering machine
or other recording device take the call. In existing systems, this
would involve asking the caller in some manner to identify him or
herself through name, address and/or phone number as a minimum. All
this takes time which keeps the system busy and prevents other
callers responding to the promotional stimulus from reaching the
operator, answering machine or other prepared recording facility.
Add to this the time consumed in taking down the pledge or order,
the applicable credit card number, the mailing or return address
and the like, and you can see the practical failure of the entire
promotion right there, particularly if the promotion is broadcast
on a very large scale that is supposed to generate myriads of calls
in a matter of seconds.
To meet such demand, the subject invention merely captures the
subscriber telephone numbers of the telephone sets 18 through which
the calls are made in response to a broadcast stimulus. Block 23
represents an automatic number identification system (ANI) for that
purpose. While such ANI's have been used for purposes such as
pay-per-view television, their lack of use in conjunction with the
other elements of the subject invention up to now has precluded the
evolution of a response system that could handle wide-area
promotions of great impact.
Unlike human operators, phone answering machines and other voice
recording devices, the subject invention, in its purest form,
simply ignores any utterance attempted to be conveyed by a
recipient through any telephone set 18 when responding to the
broadcast promotion 22.
Of course, where automatic number identification (ANI) still is
unavailable, even the subject invention has to make a certain
exception to that general principle, so that substantially all
calls may be received, even from some rural exchanges and certain
other areas waiting for ANI capability, as more fully disclosed
below. At the same time, the needs of the system and of the great
majority of callers 16 is satisfied by the rapid ANI 23 without
keeping the lines busy for more than a moment.
In this respect, the electronic capturing of a calling subscriber's
telephone number takes place within a fraction of a second after
the caller has completed dialing the promoted telephone number,
such as (800) PRO-DUCT. In order to prompt the caller to hang up
his or her telephone as soon as possible thereafter, the system
automatically confirms to substantially all callers while on line
during initial call that their calls have been received This can be
done by a synthesized or preferably digitized voice automatically
to cut down the time factor. Of course, as little as a short beep
back to the caller via telephone set 18 immediately after capture
of the subscriber's telephone number may be sufficient and most
time effective. Within the scope of the subject invention, a
message that their call will be confirmed by a beep and that they
will be called back later may be displayed or otherwise uttered or
published right along with the display of the phone number (800)
PRO-DUCT. The selection of any of these or other methods within the
scope of the subject invention for confirming that a call has been
registered and will be returned, will most likely depend on (a)
which method will cause the caller to hang up most quickly, and (b)
will preserve the callers' goodwill nevertheless. To prevent people
from blocking the system, a disconnect as indicated at 24 may be
employed to disconnect the callers' telephone sets 18 after
confirmation has been issued at 30 to these callers 16 as indicated
at 33 that their calls have been received. Existing
software-defined disconnects in many telephone systems now
disconnect a caller's line after the called party has hung up.
After each caller thus has politely been caused to hang up or has
been disconnected in the shortest possible time, the system is
obviously free from instant to instant to receive other calls,
whereby substantially all calls of recipients 16 using their
telephone sets 18 to respond to broadcast promotions 22 are
automatically received before the viewers' enthusiasm dies
down.
Unlike pay-per-view and prior art automatic number identification
systems, the systems of the subject invention will not typically
ask the caller 16 to use his or her keypad 25 to key in any
information when first responding to a promotion 22. In fact, the
invention in its purest form does not ask any information at that
point. The only significant exception presently contemplated would
arise if the local exchange in his or her case simply did not have
any ANI capability. In that case, in the interest of accommodating
the needs of such persons, even a system according to the subject
invention may route such calls to live attendants taking down the
caller's phone number and inserting it through a keypad into the
ANI 23. An automatic call distributor may be used for that purpose.
In such a case, the attendant may find that he or she might as well
take the caller's pledge or order, unless a high-call rate
restricts him or her time-wise to taking only the caller's phone
number. However, these are isolated instances which are dwarfed by
the overwhelming majority of cases where callers' telephone numbers
can be automatically captured.
It is thus true for the majority of callers that any receipt of
information conveyed by recipients 16 using the telephone sets 18
having rotary or keypad-type dialing facilities 25 to respond to
the broadcast promotion 22 is confined to the capturing of
subscriber telephone numbers where a telephone system is so
equipped, such as at 23, and to information conveyed through the
dialing facilities. As already mentioned above, such information
is, for instance, the dialing of the system telephone number, such
as (800) PRO-DUCT, or a (900) area code or other specific phone
number.
The subscriber telephone numbers identified by the ANI 23 are
captured by a communication controller (CC) 26 which in turn passes
such captured telephone number information to a transactional
processor computer (TPC) 27. The ANI 23 may also pass to the CC 26
the last four digits of the dialed number, such as "DUCT," or such
other digits as will identify the product or service called for by
a person 16 in the response to one or more broadcast promotions 22.
The CC 26 may include a conventional type of converter, known as
"protocol converter," which converts information from one language
or format to another, such as can be handled by the TPC 27, and at
least buffer-type storage capacity
The TPC 27 may establish a data base of customer telephone numbers
from the information received via CC 26 and may comprise a main
frame or microcomputer, or a PC for housing all necessary data
bases. Where regulations permit, at least part of the function,
hardware and application software of the TPC 27 may be incorporated
in the CC 26.
A phantom line 29 separates regular telephone exchanges 20 from the
special equipment 23, 26, 27, etc. However, such equipment may
actually be located at a telephone central office itself, where
regulations so permit. Where a broadcast promotion is nationwide or
otherwise is to cover a particularly large area, several ANI's 23
may be located at different node points distributed over the
country or other wide area. The TPC 27 may then be centralized, but
the subject invention is flexible in that respect as well.
Technology already exists for generating a confirmation of the
above mentioned type as indicated by a block 30 in FIG. 1. That
facility 30 for providing callers with an audible confirmation
and/or a message that they will be called back may in fact be
located in or at the ANI 23 such as in the form of a mass
announcement node.
The double arrow 33 in FIG. 1 indicates that information flows both
ways, namely through the telephone exchanges 20 to the ANI 23 as
far as capturing the subscribers' telephone numbers and elements of
the called system number (e.g. "DUCT") is concerned, and from the
equipment connected to ANI 23 back through the telephone exchanges
20 to the calling telephone sets 18 as far as a brief confirmation
of the receipt and an expressed or implied promise of subsequent
return of each call is concerned.
As indicated by a line 31, the transactional processor 27
interfaces with a communications processor shown as CP 32. Such
equipment may be of a conventional or state-of-the art type per se
and may be multiplied as required for necessary capacity of the
system.
The callers' captured telephone numbers are thus downloaded into
the CP 32, preferably preceded by the message which the system will
transmit to the persons 16 when calling them subsequently as more
fully disclosed below. All this occurs very rapidly and, ideally,
within seconds of a broadcast promotional stimulus. However, while
the invention is very stingy when it comes to occupying the system
during the initial calls, it is more generous when it comes to
returning the calls, thereby making up for whatever curtness that
may have been perceived by viewers 16 when they placed their
initial call in immediate response to a broadcast promotion.
Now that the ninety seconds or so during which the system has
received the large majority of calls of recipients of the broadcast
promotion 22 and has captured their phone numbers have passed, the
CP 32 can be more generous in returning such phone calls.
In fact, since callers have been assured, as indicated at 30 and by
the double arrow 33, that their calls will be returned, there is no
hurry and the system could wait and keep incoming lines clear for
the above mentioned next five minutes until the remaining ten to
fifteen per cent of viewers 16 that will respond to the broadcast
promotion 22 has called the system number (800) PRO-DUCT and has
had their phone numbers captured at 23 and recorded or registered
at 32. This would give the system additional time to effect a
credit card and name and address verification from a credit card
and name and address data base file (N&A) which is shown at 36
and which may have been obtained from a credit card company and/or
may have been put together from previous orders or dealings. It may
be necessary at that point to have such credit information arranged
in terms of phone numbers or to postpone such credit check at 36
until the callers have been called back and dialed-in their credit
card numbers during the response completing phase.
At any rate, the system or CP 32 uses the electronically captured
subscriber telephone numbers to call on multitudes of telephone
sets 18 at a time until substantially all of the calls have been
returned. This is not intended to mean that the CP 32 will call on
several times 10,000 over a period of time, if the CP has a
capability of returning 10,000 calls and if not more than 10,000
viewers 16 have called.
In that case, the expression "multitudes" refers to the number of
telephone sets within the 10,000 call capacity or within such
smaller or larger capacity of the CP 32 as may be manageable with a
single burst of return calls. However, where the number of captured
calls exceeds the capacity of the CP 32, as will typically be the
case, then the expression "multitudes" refers to the multiple of
the burst of return calls that can be handled by the system at any
time.
When thus reaching multitudes of subscribers 16, the system 10 will
prompt them to complete their responses to the broadcast promotion
22. As indicated above, that will be on the return call by the
system, minutes after the viewers 16 have first called through
their telephones and have had their phone numbers captured for such
a return call. The technology already exists for electronically
prompting all persons who answer the calls on their multitudes of
telephone sets 18 to complete their responses to the broadcast
promotion 22 through their telephone sets while on line during the
return call. For instance, the CP 32 may include a synthesized or
digitized voice facility which greets the people picking up the
phone in response to a return call and which asks them to place now
their order or make their pledge, depending on the nature of the
broadcast promotion. An arrow 38 in FIG. 1 indicates the travel of
such synthesized or digitized voice prompt from the system or CP 32
through the telephone exchanges and subscriber lines and telephone
sets 18 to the persons 16 answering the return call by the
system.
According to an embodiment of the invention, persons who answer the
return call on telephone sets 18 having keypad-type dialing
facilities are prompted via 38 to complete their responses to the
broadcast promotion 22 through their keypad-type dialing facilities
25.
For instance, the synthesized or digitized voice may ask them to
key-in their credit card number. The credit card information thus
produced proceeds via line 39 to the CP 32 where it is subjected to
a credit check and name and address verification at 36 via response
processor 42.
The synthesized or digitized voice may then request each person 16
who has answered a return call and for whom the verification at 36
has been satisfactory, to key-in his or her response to the
broadcast promotion 22, such as in the form of an order or pledge
and such as by depressing specific pushbuttons in a keypad 25.
Depending on the nature of the data base at 36, a system could then
also verify to the particular person his or her address to which
the particular product will be sent or other response mailed. The
synthesized or digitized voice could then ask the person to depress
a specific button at 25, if that address is correct, or a different
button if the person wishes the ordered product or other response
to be sent to another address than what is in the data base at 36
for that person.
On the other hand, since the system, for the above mentioned
reasons, always has more time to return the calls than to take the
initial calls, this may be the time to give the responding viewer
16 an opportunity to talk. For instance, the responding viewer 16
could be asked about his or her desired mailing address for the
particular item, and so forth. A live operator or attendant or an
answer recording facility could be used for that purpose for
subsequent replay and/or transcription.
In principle, whatever can be dialed in by a keypad-type facility
25 could be dialed in by the old rotary dial. For instance, one
could dial in the digits of a credit card number that way. However,
phone systems are not usually equipped to handle credit card
numbers dialed in with a rotary dial, and it may thus be necessary
for the system to make an exception to its goal of optimum
automation for the case of telephones still equipped with rotary
dials. For that case, the CP 32 could be set up as a voice
interactive computer or a live operator or attendant could be
provided for that purpose.
However, since rotary dials are in the process of eventually
disappearing from the scene, the full benefits of the subject
invention are still attainable in time.
As indicated by a line 41 leading from the CP and by a block 42
labelled RESP. PROC., the orders, pledges or other responses
generated by and received through the system are processed. This
may, for instance, be done at the location of the provider of the
service or product, indicated by a block 43 to which the response
processor 42 is connected by a line 44.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the response processor
42 may include the same equipment as the TPC 27 and, as indicated
by a dotted line 45, may serve as a backup thereof in order to
prevent a loss of captured phone numbers in case of a TPC
breakdown.
Ordered products may thus be billed or, if they already have been
charged through credit cards, may be sent out to the viewers 16 or
radio listeners responding to a broadcast promotion 22. As
indicated by a line 46 between the service or product provider 43
and the one-way broadcast medium 12, broadcast promotions 22
typically have their impetus at the provider, who may have an
advertising department or who may engage an advertising agency and
all necessary production facilitites for that purpose.
Within the scope of the subject invention, the system so far
disclosed divides methods herein discussed into a call receiving
phase and a response completing phase carried out at least minutes
after termination of the call receiving phase. By way of example, a
call receiving phase has been disclosed above with the aid of
components 23, 24, 26, 27, 30 and 33 in FIG. 1. The subsequent
response completing phase has been described above by reference to
components 32, 38 and 39 in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 uses a # symbol as shown at 13 to symbolize a system
telephone number or other stimulus broadcast for prompting the
recipients 16 of the broadcast promotion 22 to respond through
their telephone sets 18, as disclosed above. An embodiment of the
subject invention then assesses a length of time during which
substantially all of these recipients 16 responding to that #
stimulus will have made their response through their telephone sets
18, such as by dialing "800 PRO-DUCT" with their keypads 25. An
example of such an assessment has been given in the Background of
the Invention where it was mentioned that most viewers 16 who want
to respond by telephone 18 will attempt to do so within less than
two minutes after a broadcast stimulus # therefor. By way of
representative example, it was there stated that over eighty-five
percent of all such phone calls will be attempted during the first
ninety seconds, followed by ten to fifteen percent within the next
five minutes after the broadcast stimulus #.
There may be different response times for different kind of
promotions, but it can be statistically determined or deduced from
prior similar promotions what a typical response time will be.
Computerized equipment of the type mentioned above in connection
with components 27, 32 and 42 may be employed for that purpose. In
this or any other manner within the scope of the subject invention,
a length of time during which substantially all of the recipients
16 responding to the broadcast stimulus # will have made their
responses through their telephone sets 18 is assessed. In the above
mentioned representative example, such length of time was a total
of six and a half minutes.
Accordingly, pursuant to the currently disclosed embodiment of the
subject invention, the response completing phase would only be
started by the system 10 after these six and a half minutes after
broadcast of the stimulus # have elapsed. To be on the safe side
under our example, a ten-minute delay could be built into the CP 32
to assure that the system only starts at some ten minute delay to
call on the telephone sets 18 by using the subscriber telephone
numbers captured at 26 et seq. This or any such delay within the
scope of the subject invention may be timed after the stimulus #
has been broadcast at 12 through the sets 13. Depending on the
length and kind of broadcast promotion 22, the above mentioned
delay observed by the CP before that CP 32 starts returning calls
to the viewers 16, may be made to start after the end of the
particular broadcast promotion 22. Where faster action is desired,
and when the kind of the program 22 so permits, such delay may be
initiated after a subscriber's telephone number has been captured
at 26.
The subject invention also addresses itself to the above mentioned
problem caused by various promotional systems that call on
telephone subscribers en masse with various solicitations that are
neither desired, nor particularly appreciated. The subject
invention converts that nuisance into a desired commodity by using
its system to make calls only if the called party has in some
manner indicated that such calls are authorized. As disclosed
above, this may be done by capturing the responding viewer's or
listener's telephone numbers such as at 23 and 26 in FIG. 1 and by
using such captured telephone number information via 27 and 32 some
times thereafter to make calls as disclosed above via 38 and 39.
The equipment used for such purpose may in principle be the same at
32 as the equipment that is now making the above mentioned
unsolicited phone calls. Outbound dialers, voice response equipment
and voice interactive computers already exist for use as or in the
CP 32.
These and other modifications and variations within the spirit and
scope of the subject invention are suggested to those skilled in
the art by the subject extensive disclosure.
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